Computer based systems for generating and printing postage indicia have been available for a number of years, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,992 entitled “System and Method for Automatically Printing Postage on Mail” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,739 entitled “System and Method for Remote Postage Metering,” assigned to Stamps.com Inc, the assignee of the present application. Such computer based systems have largely replaced more traditional postage meters in many market segments because of the widespread availability of appropriate host systems, ease of use, etc. However, there remains room for advancement with respect to the operation and use of such computer based systems in performing postage transactions.
Many computer based postage indicia generation and printing systems, although providing a viable solution for home and small office use, are not well suited for use by high volume shippers. For example, some such systems implement a client server computer based architecture which typically invokes a series of server calls from the client in order to generate and print postage indicia. Such a series of server calls can require appreciable time to complete an individual shipping transaction (e.g., process a single item). Although this latency may be acceptable in many situations, it can result in unacceptable delays when a high volume of items are to be processed for shipping.
Moreover, where a variety of different items are being processed for shipping (as opposed to a mass mailing of a same mail piece, for example), a plurality of different decision points for each item are typically implemented to appropriately process each individual item for shipping. For example, item information such as the weight and size of the item, class of service information such as first class, express, etc., and special delivery and handling information such as shipment tracking, return receipt requested, registered delivery, etc. may be solicited for each item in order to appropriately process the item for shipping. Although computer based systems may provide processing in accordance with a simple preference setting (e.g., a preference setting to default to a least expensive shipping option), such systems heretofore have not addressed the various decision points in a manner to adequately facilitate high volume shipping of a variety of different items. That is, such a preference is merely a simple on/off or yes/no selection without providing any rules based operation for addressing various decision points.